Antique Japanese battle flag found

LONDON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A historic Japanese naval battle flag used 100 years ago has been located in England by a Japanese priest, The Telegraph reported Thursday.

The whereabouts of the 30-foot by 20-foot flag had been unknown in Japan for decades but was tracked down by a priest from a shrine in Tokyo dedicated to the memory of Admiral Heihachiro Togo, who defeated the Russian fleet at Tsushima.

As a young man, Togo lived in Britain for seven years from 1871 learning seamanship from the Royal Navy.

But the fate of the battle flag Togo flew on his ship, the Mikasa, was forgotten until Chiharu Himuro, senior priest at the Togo Shrine, found Togo had given it to the Royal Navy and it was later inherited by the Marine Society, the seafarers' charity.

Still in good shape, the flag is similar to the Japanese naval ensign but has fewer rays emanating from the rising sun.

The Marine Society has loaned it back to Japan permanently, and the newspaper said it will be the center piece of anniversary festivities to mark the battle that won the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese war.